Warehousing & 3PL Logistics

Shipbroking and chartering are an integral aspect of the shipping business. Shipbrokers serve as the middlemen or agents that enable companies to hire and lease ships from their owners. In maritime terms, the hiring and leasing process is known as ship chartering. The two sides that make up the charter agreement are known as charter parties. Since most ship owners do not ply their own vessels, chartering forms an important part of the maritime sector.

Chartering can be of multiple types, but the most common include voyage chartering, and time chartering.

Voyage charters entail leasing a vessel for the length of a pre-set voyage. An estimate of the time taken to complete the journey is calculated, and a rough cost estimate is proposed. In the event of a delay in returning the ship back to its owners, a penalty is imposed. Two important terms that makeup voyage chartering are laytime and demurrage. Laytime refers to the time span provided to the charterer to complete the loading or unloading processes. In case they exceed this time frame, they are required by maritime law to pay a fine known as demurrage.